This piece by Adam Darowski, published this morning at The Hardball Times, explains how similar Larry Walker was to Al Simmons, a Hall of Famer elected by the BBWAA. The Walker section ends thusly:

“Even if you don’t believe WAR adjusts enough for Coors Field or don’t fully trust Walker’s defensive numbers, Al Simmons basically represents the worst-case scenario comparison for Larry Walker. Since Simmons is one of the 100 best players in history, that means Larry Walker absolutely should be a Hall of Famer.”

While I’m primarily stumping for Walker here, Adam makes some other eye-opening comps as well. Jeff Bagwell was Ed Delahanty (though I’d rather note that he was the third-best first baseman who debuted in the 20th century than compare him to a dinosaur). Mike Mussina was a better pitcher than Jim Palmer. Alan Trammell was Ryne Sandberg. And here’s the best comp of them all: